Sermon on Lord’s Day 10

27. Q. What do you understand by the providence of God?
A. God's providence is His almighty and ever present power,[1] whereby, as with His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures,[2] and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty,[3] indeed, all things, come not by chance[4] but by His fatherly hand.[5] [1] Jer. 23:23,24; Acts 17:24-28. [2] Heb. 1:3. [3] Jer. 5:24; Acts 14:15-17; John 9:3; Prov. 22:2. [4] Prov. 16:33. [5] Matt. 10:29.

28. Q. What does it benefit us to know that God has created all things and still upholds them by His providence?
A. We can be patient in adversity,[1] thankful in prosperity,[2] and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from His love;[3] for all creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will they cannot so much as move.[4]
[1] Job. 1:21, 22; Ps. 39:10; James 1:3. [2] Deut. 8:10; I Thess. 5:18. [3] Ps. 55:22; Rom. 5:3-5; 8:38, 39. [4] Job 1:12; 2:6; Prov. 21:1; Acts 17:24-28.

Scripture Reading: Job 36:22-29, John 11:1-4;17-27

Singing: (Psalms and Hymns are from the "Book of Praise" Anglo Genevan Psalter)
Psalm 84:3,4
Psalm 23:2
Psalm 102:7,8
Psalm 37:2,12,16
Hymn 48:1,2,3,4

Beloved Congregation of our Lord!

After working six days, God finished creating the world. What did God do then?

Scripture reveals that God did not simply sit back –if I may use that phrase here- to enjoy His handiwork. As Jesus said it: "My Father is working still" (Jn 5:17).

But what does God do now that He is no longer creating? We confess the answer to that question in Lord’s Day 9: He "still upholds and governs" His creation "by His eternal counsel and providence." Lord’s Day 10 picks up that thought of providence as mentioned in Lord’s Day 9, and it asks in Question & Answer 27 what we are to understand by this providence of God. I might state right away, for the sake of clarity, that providence does not mean ‘providing’, much as the two words might sound the same. But providence simply captures in one word those two thoughts mentioned in the Catechism, those thoughts of ‘upholding’ and ‘governing’,

Providence implies then that God ‘upholds’ all things. That term ‘upholding’ means that God sees to it that creation continues to exist. It means that if God should withdraw His supportive hand from creation, the whole cosmos would disintegrate. That’s what we read in Scripture; Paul tells the Athenians that even the heathen live and move and have their being in God (Acts 17:28). Take God away from the heathen, and even they cannot continue to exist. God not only gives life; God also sustains life.

It’s true also after the fall into sin. God continued still to uphold His creation, to keep it existing, to prevent it from disintegrating, but did it now ‘in Christ’. That is: it’s because of Christ’s coming sacrifice that God continued to uphold the world, for Christ would redeem it from the power of Satan. That’s why Scripture says: "in Him –that’s Christ- all things hold together" (Col 1:17). And: Christ "upholds the universe by His word of power" (Heb 1:3).

That means, brothers and sisters, that each person on this globe is absolutely dependent on Jesus Christ. Were it not for His work in redeeming the world from the power of Satan, were it not for His continual upholding of this creation, this world could not exist. And then one may deny as much as he wills that God exists, but that does not do away with the fact that if God did not uphold, nobody would BE. And that implies nothing else than that one does well to reckon with this God.

But providence is more than ‘upholding’. According to our Lord’s Day, it includes also ‘governing’. That term ‘governing’ captures the notion that nothing happens apart from God permitting it, causing it. Men can throw the dice, but God determines the numbers that roll up (Prov 16:33). Of the millions of sparrows in the world, or of the thousands of hairs on your head, not one of them will fall to the ground without the Father’s will (Mt 10:29ff). It’s the same with the bigger things in life. Spring doesn’t come unless God sends forth His Spirit and renews the ground (Ps 104:30). Even kings and rulers are no more than puppets in the hand of God; they may think they make their own plans, but ultimately even their thoughts are governed, are controlled by God (Prov 21:1). So it is that the Catechism can say: "all things come not by chance but by His fatherly hand." That gives comfort.

Still, brothers and sisters, I don’t think I misrepresent the reality when I say that we have problems with the idea that the doctrine of God’s providence gives comfort. I say that because of that question that one repeatedly hears: WHY? Things don’t go the way we would like them to go, and we invariably end up asking WHY? Sure, we want to believe that nothing happens apart from the will of our heavenly Father, but where is God when a loved one dies suddenly? Or we can’t find work? Or the house burns down? And we end up confused because we conclude that either God is not as almighty as we had thought (otherwise He would have prevented this calamity), or we conclude that God is not the good and loving Father we had hoped He was - for if He were, surely He would not allow such a thing to happen to us. Confusion. Questions.

Against that background, we may listen this afternoon to what God has to say about Providence, particularly as it is confessed in Lord’s Day 10 of the Catechism. And we’ll find that this doctrine is indeed comforting, for God upholds and controls all for our good.

So I use this theme:

With infinite wisdom almighty father upholds and governs his creation for good

1. The wisdom of God
2. The wisdom of God’s people.

The wisdom of God

Lord’s Day 10 continues with the confession about God the Father and our Creation. As we confess with Lord’s Day 9, that thought of God as Creator implies the power of God. A look at the creation around us spells out how great this power of God is; it’s infinite. He spoke, and the Darling Range was there. But if God has that kind of power, then surely it will not do to suggest that somehow God was unable to prevent a certain disaster from befalling us. Unless one is going to say that God has lost His power, is no longer the almighty…. Yet if one says that, then there is no longer any guarantee that we have indeed been rescued from Satan; then Christ can die on the cross but if Satan is possibly stronger than God then God can still not wrestle us out of Satan’s hand. Deny the almighty power of God, beloved, and your salvation is at stake! No, Scripture makes it clear that God remains almighty. The fact that He sent His Son and that this Son could triumph is itself the proof.

But what about the hardships that befall us? If God remains almighty, if He has triumphed over Satan and so can prevent evil, why does He let troubles happen? Where is then His goodness, His love, His kindness? Is it swallowed up by His power?

That disturbing question, beloved, can be answered only if we understand that God is wise. And by ‘wise’ Scripture does not mean that God knows everything (although in itself that’s true; He does), ‘wise’ in Scripture means that one knows the purpose of things and how best to achieve that purpose. The reason why God created all things was for the purpose of glorifying Himself. The reason why God upholds the world after He finished creating was equally so that He might continue to be glorified. So also after the fall. God continued to hold onto this world so that He might be glorified by His creation. That same purpose counts also with regards to the way God governs this world. God controls, God governs, with that one purpose, that one goal in mind: His greater glory. Everything that He does with and in this world revolves around that purpose. And because God’s glory is the purpose of all things is our salvation also tied up with all that God does; for He is glorified by the fact that His chosen are brought to the goal of perfection.

I would draw your attention to the death and resurrection of Lazarus as an example. Martha and Mary are both convinced that Jesus Christ, as Son of God Almighty, has the power to heal Lazarus, to prevent his death. And they’re right, He has the power. Yet Christ sovereignly chooses not to exercise His power; He lets His friend die. Why? Because He was too busy beyond the Jordan? Because He did not really love the sisters? Not at all. Listen to the Lord’s reason; this "is for the g1ory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it" (John 11:4).

Why was Joseph sold to Egypt? Face it, it was no pleasant experience for the young man. But in the long run, Joseph does come to understand the reason why. Says he to his brothers; "God sent me before you to preserve life" (Gen 45:5,7). We read that and know that ultimately more is meant than that his father and brothers should be spared a cruel death by famine. Ultimately, Joseph speaks here of the preservation of Jesus Christ. For if Jacob’s family had perished in the famine, Christ would not be able to come. Joseph was sold into Egypt ultimately for the sake of salvation for all whom God has chosen! And that makes it dear that Joseph’s horrifying experiences serve to glorify God. That’s the purpose of all God does, also in sending Joseph to Egypt as a youth.

But men do not always get to understand everything God does. Why did Job have to loose everything that he had? Job and his friends discussed that question for days, and they couldn’t come out of it; the friends thought that it must be divine punishment on Job’s hidden sins, a reasoning that Job disagreed with totally. But neither he nor his three friends came to grips with the fact that this world is here for God’s glory, and that God sovereignly and wisely directs all things to that goal. It’s finally that youngest friend who lays a finger on the answer to the why of Job’s sufferings: "Behold, God is great and we know Him not" (Job 36:26). We can’t understand why God does all that He does. God Himself challenges Job to understand the wisdom of God. Says He: "is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars?" (39:26)? And the message of what God says to Job is clear; the Almighty is incomprehensible in His ways exactly because of His infinite wisdom; all He does revolves around His glory.

Could the disciples understand why Jesus was put to death? We’re familiar with their disappointment. Their whole world collapsed around them. Yet we know that the road to Christ’s throne lay via Calvary; Christ had to die in order to that He and His Father might receive glory.

We ask all kinds of whys. And we protest God’s actions here and question it there. But the examples to the saints of Scripture, the example of Jesus Christ, must convince us that even the evil has that one purpose: the glory of God Almighty. And, as with Job, that ought to silence our protests. We are not on this earth for ourselves; God created us precisely for His greater glory.

But another question then. If God directs all that He does to His greater glory, is a clash possible between God’s glory and our good? Can it happen that something that glorifies God in fact hurts God’s people? Yet that cannot be, beloved! It cannot be simply because God has tied His glory and our good together! Consider this: why did God send His only Son to die on the cross? Sure, it was that we might have forgiveness and life. But we’re not granted life simply for our eternal enjoyment. We were not created for our pleasure either. But God sent Christ so that His holy Name might receive glory, and that holy Name receives glory precisely through our being saved. That glory is the purpose of our salvation. If God can love sinners as we so much that He sends a Mediator, think not that afterwards God is going to seek our harm! And that’s to say that every last thing that happens to us is, in God’s judgment, for our benefit!

Is that something that we can understand? Categorically, NO. But the question is too: is it necessary for me to understand it? And the answer is again NO. Did Joseph understand why God let him be sold to Egypt, why he spent years in prison? It was not until years later, when his brothers came to Egypt, that God gave him answer to his questions.

Did Job ever come to understand why God caused him to suffer as he did? Not in this life he didn’t; not until after he was with the Lord did Job understand all the whys and the wherefores,

And that counts for us too. God does so much with us, things that we consider to be both good and bad. As the Catechism says: He sends "rain and drought, fruitful and barren years..., health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance but by His Fatherly hand." In this life we shall never understand all the ins and outs of what God permits in our lives. But the broad lines of what God does with us we do know already; He works all things to His g1ory, and therefore all that happens to us is also good for us His children. Recall Scripture’s declaration that God’s ways are higher than our ways; God is wiser than we. He knows how to reach the goal of His greater glory. He knows how best to bring us to the goal of perfection. His identity as God, and the way He operates, is something, He tells us, that we are to believe – not seek to understand. It is enough for us to know that He works all things for good for those who love Him, both when He sends them prosperity and when He sends them adversity. He worked for good, both when Joseph was sold into Egypt and when his brothers came to visit. He worked for good both when Christ was crucified and when Christ was exalted at God’s right hand. He works all things for good, for His glory and our salvation, because He is always all-wise.

That gives to us the obligation to trust in Him, blindly. Consider again the words of Jesus in Mt 10: "are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will…. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (vss 29ff). Then God may lead us through the valley of the shadow of death –to quote Ps 23- but even there we shall fear no evil because it’s God who leads us, and He knows best the way to His glory and so to our salvation. Again: understand it? No. But believe that God is wise in the way He upholds and governs this world we must.

And that’s the reason why we are to be thankful in prosperity. Note well, we are to be thankful not because we prosper as such and live comfortably; prosperity and comfort can in themselves be a curse – and that’s something we see around us with so many people caught up in the rat race of this life. But we are to be thankful for prosperity because we believe that Father is wisely working for His glory through the prosperity He gives us. So is that prosperity also for my advantage and my salvation. That’s why we give thanks.

And for the same reason we are to be patient in adversity. We do well to notice that the Catechism does not say that we are to be unthankful in adversity (something we so easily are); we are instead to be patient. In fact, Scripture goes so far as to instruct us to "give thanks in all circumstances" (I Thes 5:18). And if we think about it, it’s so understandable. For God in wisdom controls all for good, works unfailingly to that goal of His glory and our salvation. If God determines in His wisdom that the road to glory for any of us lies through a dark valley, who are we to suggest that God is not correct? Honestly, we are not wiser than God. We shouldn’t act it either.

Granted, the Catechism does not speak of the same thankfulness for adversity as there is to be in prosperity. Scripture knows full well that human emotions remain. There is that grief at the loss of a loved one, and one cannot smile that grief away. But at the same time we are to see the hand of a wise Father behind all that happens, be it good or bad. And that means that there may not be room for complaint among the people of God, there may not be dissatisfaction, protests against the direction that God leads us on. We are to believe that God is wise, to trust His leading, follow g1adly wherever He would take us.

And that means too that, hard as it may be, we are to reach over our grief, our unhappiness, and patiently give thanks even in adversity. Father is leading us down that road that leads to the New Jerusalem and therefore, as Paul says, we "rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (I Thess 5:l6ff). Believe it, beloved: Father knows best. He’s wise, and powerful to carry out exactly what is good. And it’s not for us creatures to question God’s ways!

And that’s our second point:

The wisdom of God’s people.

You see: that trusting, that child-like conviction that Father knows best is what Christian wisdom is all about. God would have His people reflect what He is like; very well, if God then is wise, it follows that His people are to be wise also. Yet as creatures we cannot be wise in the same way that God is wise; His wisdom means that He knows the goal and the best way to get to that goal. For our part, we too may know the goal –God’s glory- but the way to that goal we cannot grasp with our finite minds. But this then is wisdom for the child of God: that he admit that Father’s ways are wise and good. To be wise is to confess that God always does well. It is to trust upon this God to lead us faithfully to the goal He has in mind. Conversely, it is folly, it is the fool, who does not trust this God, who relies instead on his own insights to reach a goal.

That means, beloved, that it is a matter of wisdom to accept what Father gives. It’s a matter of Christian wisdom to believe that Father still upholds and governs all things for good. And it’s a matter of wisdom to be convinced that the way Father leads me is the right way, the best way to the desired goal. So it’s a matter of wisdom that we do not complain about the way God leads us. And it’s a matter of Christian wisdom that we do not pity ourselves for the calamity that has overtaken us, that we do not rebel against God’s guidance and suggest that this or that is no good. That’s being wise unto salvation.

That Christian wisdom applies not only to accepting what God gives. It applies also to recognizing that God’s commandments are wise and just and good. God would lead us on the road to salvation. But how does He do so? Not only by bringing this and that upon us; He does it also by instructing us to do this and that. His commandments are given to us to keep us on the road to that goal of Life. To disobey a command is to take a side road off the road to life. That’s why disobedience is not just a matter of disregarding one of God’s commands for a while; disobedience is instead a matter of suggesting that for the situation wherein I am now, God gave an unwise command by forbidding me to do a certain thing and instructing me to do something else.

Did it make human sense for Abraham to admit to Pharaoh that Sarah was his wife? Was it not simply a matter of prudence for him to claim that Sarah was instead his sister? Face it: Abraham was right; Sarah was his half-sister, and if he admitted that beautiful Sarah was his wife, his life would have been in danger. But God had given a command not to lie. And God makes no mistakes in giving such a command; He is wise and knows what is best, both in giving the command and in leading Abraham into this situation. So it’s for Abraham a matter of believing the wisdom of God, believing also that God’s commandments are right and wise. It’s for Abraham to believe that God is able and willing to deliver from Pharaoh if need be. Christian wisdom means that Abraham close his eyes to the circumstances and simply obey the commands of his wise God. And leave the rest to God. Men are not wiser than God.

Does it make sense for you in your circumstances to spend time daily in studying God’s word and praying? Does it mean that you wouldn’t have sufficient time anymore for your work, your family, your recreation? But God gave a command. He told us to be busy with His Word, and He told us to pray. You feel you can’t afford the time? But what kind of a God have you?! Is He wise? Or has He made a mistake in telling you to take time from your busy schedule for Bible study? If you consider God to have lost His wisdom, OK, then take matters in your own hands. But then be so consistent also as to say that there is no wisdom in the cross either!

But Christian wisdom says: God gave the command, and God has placed many commitments on my plate where humanly speaking I can’t really afford the time for Bible study and prayer. But I believe that He knows what He is doing, and what He does is well done, and so I trust and obey. I take time to be busy with Scripture, take time for prayer, because God asks it. That’s wisdom. It’s not looking to the left, it’s not looking to the right; it’s simply reckoning with the fact that Father governs all things supremely for good. Trust and obey, whether it makes sense or not. For I believe God to be wiser than I.

There’s an increasing lawlessness in our land. Society in general isn’t too fussy about obeying God too scrupulously. That gives to us and our children a strong temptation to take some liberties ourselves with God’s commands. And that in turn makes the question so urgent: what do you think of God? Do you believe Him to be a God of providence, a God who did not leave His creation alone after the sixth day but still upholds and governs all things completely? And do you believe that He’s wise, knows how to reach that goal of His glory, knows how to bring each child of His to that goal of perfection, makes no mistakes? Do you believe that also His commandments were given for our good, silly though they might appear to be? That, beloved, is what believing in God the Father almighty Creator of heaven and earth means. Amen.